Rand Paul wins CPAC presidential straw poll OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — She was not on the speaking program, but Hillary Rodham Clinton had presence at the nation's largest annual gathering of conservative activists on Saturday, as high-profile Republicans launched a dual effort to attack the prospective Democratic presidential candidate and improve the GOP's longstanding struggle with women voters. It was the closing act of a Republican summit that highlighted acute challenges for a party th...

Man critically wounded in Memphis mall shooting MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Police say a man was critically wounded in a shooting at a crowded Memphis mall. A statement released by Memphis Police spokeswoman Sgt. Karen Rudolph says officers responded around 5:45 p.m. to a call about a shooting at the Oak Court Mall and found the victim. He was transported to a hospital. According to the statement, four men were later detained but no charges had been filed as of late Thursday. Police say it appear...

Obama 2015 budget focuses on boosting economyPresident Barack Obama sent Congress a $3.9 trillion budget Tuesday that would funnel money into road building, education and other economy-bolstering programs, handing Democrats a playbook for their election-year themes of creating jobs and narrowing the income gap between rich and poor. The blueprint for fiscal 2015, which begins Oct. 1, is laden with populist proposals designed to fortify those goals. It includes new spending for pre-school...

10 Things to Know for Monday, Feb. 24, 2014Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Monday: 1. POWER VACUUM IN UKRAINE With the president's whereabouts unclear, former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko may try to assume the leadership — but she too is a polarizing figure. 2. RUSSIA, PROUD ARCHITECT OF SOCHI GAMES, TAKES A BOW The most expensive Olympics ever come to a close after some bumps along the way but without any of the terro...

Earnhardt Jr. wins 2nd Daytona 500 a decade laterDAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Through rain and wrecks, on Daytona's longest day, this was a drought Dale Earnhardt Jr. was determined to end. NASCAR's most popular driver won the Daytona 500 on Sunday night for the second time — a decade after his first victory — to snap a 55-race losing streak dating to 2012. The victory ended a streak of futility at Daytona International Speedway, where he finished second in three of the previous four 500s. "Wi...

4 dead, 2 critical after Indianapolis house fire INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A fire swept through a small home in Indianapolis on Saturday morning, killing a couple and two of their children and leaving two surviving siblings in "very critical" condition, a fire official said. The home is adjacent to a busy Interstate 70 overpass, and a motorist on that highway reported the fire about 9:10 a.m., Capt. Rita Reith said. Subsequent 911 calls led crews to the home's exact location in an east side neighb...

3 dead in plane crash at airport in west Georgia LAGRANGE, Ga. (AP) — Three people were fatally injured Saturday when a small plane crashed at an airport in west Georgia. Two occupants of the plane died on the scene and one died later at a hospital in Columbus, LaGrange Fire Department Lt. Chris Taylor said. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Kathleen Bergen said the twin-engine Beechcraft Baron aircraft crashed at LaGrange-Callaway Airport in LaGrange. She three people were aboard, a...

Missouri firefighter killed at walkway collapse scene COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A 23-year veteran firefighter was killed Saturday while helping evacuate students from a University of Missouri-run apartment complex after a second-story walkway collapsed, according to Columbia Fire Department officials. Columbia Fire Chief Chuck Witt said at a news conference that Lt. Bruce Britt became entrapped beneath rubble while responding to the collapse at University Village Apartments and was pronounced dead at ...

10 Things to Know for Friday, Feb. 21, 2014Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today: 1. UKRAINE SAID TO HAVE DEAL TO END VIOLENCE Presidency says agreement reached between police and protesters to stop battles in Kiev that have killed scores, injured hundreds. 2. WHY FEDERAL BUDGET DEFICIT IS FADING AS A POLITICAL ISSUE Annual spending gap has fallen sharply, lawmakers are tired of budget battles, and public has shifted its ...

Police: 4 dead, 2 injured in Northern California shooting ALTURAS, Calif. (AP) — Four people were shot to death and two others wounded in a shooting and knife attack Thursday at an American Indian tribal headquarters in California, authorities said. Alturas Police Chief Ken Barnes said 44-year-old Sherie Lash was taken into custody after allegedly opening fire at the Cedarville Rancheria Tribal Office and Community Center in Alturas, about 55 miles south of the Oregon border and 35 miles west of the ...

10 Things to Know for Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today: 1. UKRAINE PRESIDENT BLAMES OPPOSITION LEADERS FOR ERUPTION OF VIOLENCE Yanukovych says he has tried to compromise with protest leaders; EU calls emergency meeting as death toll rises to 25. 2. OBAMA ADMINISTRATION STRUGGLING FOR NEW STRATEGY ON SYRIA As peace talks falter and civil war drags on, U.S. is reconsidering old ideas, including mo...

Toyota recalls over 1 million vehicles, Prius, RAV4, Tacoma, and Lexus RX 350TORRANCE, Calif., February 12, 2014 – Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., today announced that it is advising the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of plans to conduct voluntary safety recalls of approximately 700,000 Model Year 2010-2014 Prius vehicles and, combined, approximately 300,000 Model Year 2012 Toyota RAV4, 2012-2013 Toyota Tacoma, and 2012-2013 Lexus RX 350 vehicles sold in the United States to address two separa...

Ice storm causes another traffic jam in the South ATLANTA (AP) — Drivers got caught in monumental traffic jams and abandoned their cars Wednesday in North Carolina in a replay of what happened in Atlanta just two weeks ago, as another wintry storm across the South iced highways and knocked out electricity to more than a half-million homes and businesses. While Atlanta’s highways were clear, apparently because people learned their lesson and heeded forecasters’ unusually dire warnings to stay ...

Sinkhole swallows cars at Corvette Museum in KentuckyBOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — It was a sight to make a classic car lover weep: A gaping sinkhole opened beneath the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky and swallowed eight prized cars like they were toys, piling them in a heap amid loose dirt and concrete fragments. It happened early Wednesday morning while the attraction dedicated to the classic American sports car was closed to visitors. “They’re all just kind of nose down in the bottom of the ...

Florida jurors deliberate in loud music killing trial JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A 47-year-old Florida man reacted viciously to an argument over loud music with teenagers in a store parking lot and fired multiple shots into their vehicle, killing one of them, and then drove away as if nothing happened, a prosecutor said Wednesday during closing arguments at the man’s trial. Defense attorneys argued, however, that the state failed to prove its case or show that Michael Dunn hadn’t acted in self-def...

Father of TV sketch comedy Sid Caesar dies at 91 LOS ANGELES (AP) — Milton Berle was the funnyman whose pioneering presence in the nation’s living rooms earned him the title Mr. Television. But Berle echoed the past. His wildly popular wisecracks and cavorting were repurposed from his burlesque days for the brand-new miracle of TV. Sid Caesar was different. Arriving on Berle’s heels in 1949, Caesar was the future of TV comedy — a future that was evergreen and, with his death on Wednesday at ...

Wire fox terrier wins best in show at WestminsterNEW YORK (AP) — The bloodhound drew the loudest cheers. The Portie came with presidential connections. And the Irish water spaniel tried to earn another win for Seattle in the Super Bowl — of dogs, that is. A little wire fox terrier called Sky stood in their way. The 5-year-old Sky won best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club on Tuesday night, finishing off a season in which she was ranked the nation's No. 1 dog. Handler Gabriel Rangel scoo...

10 Things to Know for Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today: 1. HISTORY AWAITS SHANI DAVIS IN THE 1,000 METERS The American speedskater relishes a chance to burnish his Olympic legacy with a record third straight gold medal. 2. REPUBLICAN WINS SAN DIEGO MAYOR SPECIAL ELECTION A city councilman is elected mayor of America's eighth-largest city in a special election to fill the unexpired term of disgrac...